Curated News: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

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Vaginal estrogen cream, which is commonly prescribed to help women after surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP), did not prevent a recurrence of the condition, according to results of a multicenter clinical trial led by UT Southwestern Medical Center. However, the medication did reduce symptoms of vaginal atrophy. The findings, reported in JAMA, could lead to new ways to improve outcomes of prolapse repairs, the study authors said.

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One common side effect of treatment for ovarian cancer is chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), which can damage peripheral nerves, causing severe pain and numbness. The effects can last for months – or even years — after completing chemotherapy. Currently, there is only one treatment with limited efficacy for CIPN.

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Kundalini yoga, a form of yoga that focuses on breathing, meditation, and mental visualization, appeared beneficial for older women who had risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and concerns about episodes of memory decline, according to a UCLA Health study.

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A new national study, led by researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has found whole genome sequencing (WGS) to be nearly twice as effective as a targeted gene sequencing test at identifying abnormalities responsible for genetic disorders in newborns and infants.

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Mount Sinai researchers have developed an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) model for electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis that allows for the interpretation of ECGs as language. This approach can enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of ECG-related diagnoses, especially for cardiac conditions where limited data is available on which to train. In a study published in the June 6 online issue of npj Digital Medicine DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00840-9, the team reported that its new deep learning model, known as HeartBEiT, forms a foundation upon which specialized diagnostic models can be created. The team noted that in comparison tests, models created using HeartBEiT surpassed established methods for ECG analysis.

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Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have used artificial intelligence models and machine-learning algorithms to successfully predict which components of amino acids that make up therapeutic proteins are most likely to safely deliver therapeutic drugs to animal eye cells.

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Seemingly healthy people whose blood contained antibodies associated with a condition called antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) were significantly more likely to experience a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke than those without, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists shows

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Romantic relationships and neighborhood quality are both important predictors of mental and emotional wellbeing. But the larger societal context also influences how these factors affect individuals. A new study from the University of Illinois looks at the intersection of relationships, neighborhood, and mental health for Black Americans.

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The anti-dementia medication lecanemab and its ancillary costs could add $2 billion to $5 billion in annual Medicare spending if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revise their coverage decision. Currently, the medication is covered only for patients who are enrolled in clinical trials.

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Sleep apnea may significantly increase the risk for long COVID in adults, according to a study led by the National Institutes of Health’s RECOVER Initiative and supported by NYU Langone Health as home to the effort’s Clinical Science Core (CSC).

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People who perceived that they had cognitive difficulties such as memory problems during COVID were more likely to have lingering physical manifestations of the disease than people who did not report cognitive issues.

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Mutations in our genes can lead to severe problems, like colon or liver cancer. But cancer is very complex. Mutations in the same genes can lead to different subtypes of tumors in different people. Currently, scientists don’t have a good way to produce such tumor subtypes for study in the lab.

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Penn State College of Medicine researchers have found Black and Hispanic patients with severe allergies are less likely to get a common treatment, allergen immunotherapy, compared to white patients.

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A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine shows that patients receiving a combination of hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone had lower death rates and discharge to hospice compared to those who only received hydrocortisone.

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A four-year phase 2 clinical trial demonstrated that a peanut allergy treatment called sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, is effective and safe, while offering durable desensitization to peanuts in peanut-allergic children.

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A United States Food and Drug Administration mandate to limit the dosage of acetaminophen in pills that combine acetaminophen and opioid medications is significantly associated with subsequent reductions in serious liver injury.

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“COVID rebound,” in which evidence of the illness disappears and then returns days or weeks later, is surprisingly common—whether or not patients are given the antiviral Paxlovid.

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Psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, led a multicenter study that found, in older adults with treatment-resistant depression, that augmenting an antidepressant drug with aripiprazole helped a significant number of patients.

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While COVID-19 may be transitioning from a “pandemic” to an “endemic” phase, it remains critically important to continue tracking the virus in real-time.

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Cedars-Sinai investigators found that women who developed mood and anxiety disorders associated with pregnancy and childbirth had specific altered proteins circulating in their bloodstream in the third trimester. The study is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

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UC San Diego researchers report that a late-stage, pre-clinical small molecule inhibitor reverses malignant hyper-editing by a protein that promotes silencing of the immune response, metastasis and therapeutic resistance in 20 different cancer types.

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Los investigadores de Mayo Clinic hicieron una revisión de los atletas que se trataron en Mayo durante un período de 20 años, y los hallazgos publicados en Mayo Clinic Proceedings sugieren que después de que la afección del paciente se haya evaluado y tratado de manera adecuada, es factible que los atletas puedan volver a sus actividades de forma segura.

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Atletas com doença cardíaca genética frequentemente são considerados inaptos a participar de esportes competitivos devido ao risco de parada cardíaca súbita. Embora a intenção dos médicos seja compreensível, será que essa é necessariamente a melhor abordagem?

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Thinking beyond COVID-19, a team led by Srikanth Singamaneni at the McKelvey School of Engineering developed a new point-of-care diagnostic test that is 1,000 times more sensitive than conventional rapid tests and can quantify concentrations of proteins.

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Implementing financial coaching for parents of infants in a pediatric primary care setting reduced missed well-child care visit rates by half and significantly improved receipt of vaccinations at a timely age, according to a new community-partnered pilot study led by UCLA researchers.

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A new University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center study highlights the need for increased outreach and education to reduce colorectal cancer screening disparities in Black communities. According to the qualitative study published in the Journal of Cancer Education, people in Kentucky’s Black communities may not be aware about all of the colorectal cancer screening options available to them, particularly stool-based tests.

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When children have a mild traumatic brain injury with intracranial hemorrhage, how long do they need to stay in the hospital? Which patients should go to the intensive care unit? What neuroimaging should physicians do—and how often do they need to repeat scans?Currently, hospitals and physicians across the country answer these questions quite differently.

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Findings from a Johns Hopkins Medicine research study published today in JAMA Network Open provide strong evidence that people who are pregnant and have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) can safely take the antiviral drug Paxlovid to reduce the possibility of severe disease.

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People in Los Angeles County experience differences in cancer risk and survival depending on a variety of factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, geographic location and socioeconomic status, according to a new study by investigators at Cedars-Sinai Cancer.

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Mayo Clinic announced today that its Center for Clinical and Translational Science has successfully renewed funding for its research grant from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences for five more years.

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Researchers have successfully tested a device that may one day use the chemical biomarkers in sweat to detect changes in a person’s health.